KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today, buoyed by a positive discussion between China’s President Xi Jinping and United States (US) President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit.
At 6pm, the local note improved 1.15 per cent to 4.5390/5465 against the US dollar from Monday’s close of 4.5925/5980.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said Xi-Biden meeting in Bali, Indonesia, lifted the sentiment on the ringgit after Biden said he believed there should not be a new cold war with China.
“A thawing of US-China tensions is a huge positive for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Innes further said that despite China’s economic data for October came in weaker than expected, sentiment remained firm on the back of the continued positive discussion out of the Xi-Biden meeting and G20 Summit.
“China’s stocks are also firmly inflated as investors continue chasing the reopening bounce higher,” he said.
Although the US and China still hold divergent views regarding Taiwan, human rights and trade policies, he said the meeting between both leaders delivered some warm signals on the US-China relations.
Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit were also traded higher.
It rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2573/2629 from 3.2738/2782 at Monday’s close and increased against the euro to 4.7242/7320 from 4.7381/7438 yesterday.
The local currency appreciated versus the British pound to 5.3678/3767 from 5.4187/4252 on Monday and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.3194/3252 from 3.3405/3450 previously.
— Bernama
